Saturday: Beginner Mind-Body Yoga and Meditation Flows with Shefali

Join WWAC Board Member, Shefali Shah, in a four-part series of Yoga and Meditation Flows for Beginners. In each class, we will focus on both yoga flow and meditation to bring awareness of mind and body together. Each class will explore a new topic, building on the work of the previous one. By combining scientific principles from different disciplines and weaving in her passion for dance, Shefali is focused on providing a holistic experience and education to her students. Using both live and recorded instruction, Shefali will provide a personal guided experience to ensure safe and beneficial participation.

To prepare for this class, students should set aside a quiet space. A yoga mat and block are preferred but towels can be substituted. A chair is also recommended to have accessible. We recommend placing your laptop or other device propped on the floor in order to see the screen while practicing.

All proceeds from this series will go towards supporting the West Windsor Arts Council.  
 

Week 1: Undoing the Zoom Gloom
Do you find yourself in front of the computer and on zoom calls for hours on end?  Is your posture conforming to the chair and your energy low?  Do you find yourself distracted by multiple devices?  In this class, we will work on the fundamentals of movement to bring back energy and life into your posture.  In addition, we will do a short meditative practice on bringing awareness to the present moment. 

Week 2: Working with Chronic Pain
Are you in constant pain – low back, shoulder, knees, anything else?  Movement, stability, and strengthening the right way are fundamental to a journey of healing.  In addition, did you know that your brain and your central nervous system play a significant role in chronic pain?  Retraining the brain with kindness and compassion is another piece to the puzzle.  In this class, we will bring stability and mobility to our core, glutes, shoulders to work with physical pain.  We will also practice a short compassion meditation to bring mind and body together.

Week 3: Functional Movement
Our bodies are wonderful machines designed to move in many different planes and directions.  As we age, we lose the range of motion if we don’t use them. We will analyze key hip and shoulder movement patterns in our flow.  Then, we will sit down for an analytical meditative practice that focuses on insight and self-inquiry.

Week 4: Finding Joy
We all strive for joy and happiness.  Freedom in movement and freedom of thought are foundational to the pursuit of happiness.  We will work through creative transitions and then sit down for a meditative practice to find moments of inspiration and purpose.

About the Teaching Artist

Shefali Shah is passionate about bringing an artistic experience built on a scientific foundation to her style of teaching. She was certified in teaching the LYT method of yoga which seeks to modernize classical yoga with physical therapy and scientific principles for the way we live our lives today. She is also learning the principles of meditation through the Health Minds Institute that has focused on scientific research on meditation for decades. Shefali is also trained in Indian classical dance.